Patient demands more emergency dept doctors

There are claims the Warragul Hospital's emergency department needs more than one GP at night-time, after a woman who was twice sent home later found she had gangrenous bladder stones.

Newborough woman Yasmin Plichta says she was sent home from the hospital twice last month, despite having excruciating pain in her stomach and high blood pressure.

She says a surgeon later found her bladder stones had turned gangrenous and said it could have turned into the potentially deadly disease septicaemia.

Ms Plichta says an ultrasound would have detected the gangrene.

"I focus on the emergency department, there's one GP taking care of the entire Baw Baw Shire externally and internally doing the hospital rounds that is humanly impossible," she said.

The West Gippsland Healthcare Group's CEO, Ormond Pearson, says the Warragul Hospital cannot afford more than one doctor in the emergency department at night.

"There's no doubt that we would like to have more senior medical officers available in our emergency department 24-hours-a-day but we are a public health service and we have funding issues and if the Government was able to fund more senior staff to be available in our emergency department we'd be absolutely delighted," he said.